Satedan Intentions
by hifield
Summary: Ronon wrestles with the desires of his heart and finds it's sometimes easier to come to a decision when you hash it all out with a friend who's willing to listen.


Satedan Intentions

A/N: _This was written for the Intentions Day Celebration on the Gateworld Forum for Ronon Dex/Jennifer Keller Appreciation/Ship/Discussion (Doctor & Wild Man) thread. _

_Dedicated to the Love Shack girls who continue to keep the love alive! Hope you enjoy._

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Stargate Atlantis or the awesome characters but I enjoy keeping the series alive.

 _I appreciate your reviews and look forward to your feedback._

* * *

Ronon stowed his breakfast tray as he exited the mess hall on his way to the gym. He couldn't stop thinking about his conversation with McKay last week. Intentions … the man kept talking about intentions, more specific – romantic intentions, and now he couldn't stop rolling the words around in his head. Intentions … what the hell does that mean? Rodney was so determined to get him to back off and he had no "intentions" of letting him have anything without a fight so naturally he said he was interested but what exactly was the scientist challenging him to? Did the man like Keller? If that was what Rodney was getting at why would it matter what he thought or how he felt about the young doctor.

The warrior set his gym bag down and picked up his rods working through a set of exercises while he waited for Sheppard to show up. Moving swiftly and striking out at an invisible enemy he gracefully worked through his drills hoping to quiet the confusing thoughts that ran through his head. Rodney was a tough man to warm up to, yet he'd managed to forge an allegiance with the teammate. However, when confronted with a challenge from anyone, the scientist included, there was no way he was going to back down. "May the best man win," indeed! He had this in the bag … now if he could just figure out exactly what he'd agreed to. Had they shook hands on Doc's affections? Shaking his head, he mumbled quietly to himself, "What is wrong with Earth men?"

Settling into a more relaxed routine Ronon let his thoughts drift to images of Jennifer Keller. He didn't know her very well although he'd enjoyed the brief conversations they'd had together. He'd even tried to kiss her once when they were locked in the infirmary together. He racked that up to a moment of impulse after she impressed him with her willingness to try and blow the doors open. In hindsight they were lucky they didn't seriously hurt each other but the mental pictures brought a smile.

He hadn't been ready for a relationship and one-night stands weren't his style so considering anything romantic hadn't entered his mind. Thinking back over this last mission he was aware that he felt more protective than usual of the Doc's welfare, actually, that'd been going on for quite some time – he'd just failed to notice it until now. Sheppard had asked him once if he was dating anyone … if he'd left someone behind on Sateda. He remembered telling him he wasn't ready but that'd been … two years ago, he quickly calculated in his head … huh, he just realized he hadn't thought much about it in all this time.

Turning his head at the sound of the doors opening, he watched his commanding officer walk in the room looking confident and relaxed … just the way he like to see his opponents before he knocked them down a peg or two. "Hey," he greeted as Sheppard drew near.

"Sorry I'm late… our briefing ran long," the Colonel explained as he approached rods in hand.

The men squared off and began their battle dance bobbing and weaving around each other keeping one step away from their opponent's sticks. They'd become close friends over the years – closer than brothers – Sheppard was a good workout for Ronon but he hardly considered him a challenge unless he was distracted … like today.

"Owwww," the Satedan growled, taking a hit to the shoulder. Seeing the pleasure on his teammate's face caused him to ramp up his attacks putting John on the mats more than once. All too soon his thoughts began to center on Jennifer again giving Sheppard the opening he needed to sweep his feet and put him on his back looking up.

"Okay, enough. You're not concentrating although I appreciate the cheap shots you're giving away. It's just not as satisfying as winning it fairly," John complained, giving him a hand up.

"What's up?" Sheppard asked as the men sat together on a bench drinking water and drying off.

"Nothing … I'm fine," Ronon groused.

"I just put you on the floor … girl trouble?" he teased. He was pretty sure his friend wasn't dating although he could have his pick of the litter if he wanted. There wasn't a woman on Atlantis who hadn't given him at least one long double take as he swaggered through common areas of the City.

"Something McKay said," he growled.

"Okay buddy… you're going to have to give me a little more than that," Sheppard encouraged, having a hard time making the leap.

"He asked me if I had intentions … what's that supposed to mean?" he explained, scowling.

"I'm assuming there's more to this story?" John asked, running his hand through his hair. He'd like to help but right now it was like pulling teeth trying to get information out of him.

"Asked me if I had intentions – romantic intentions toward Keller."

"Jennifer Keller … CMO Keller?" he asked, giving no time for response. "Why?" he added, hoping for some clarification.

"I guess cause he likes her," Ronon answered, sarcastically.

"Wow … Jennifer Keller and Rodney. I just can't see it. It seems like just yesterday he was all into Katie Brown but Jennifer Keller … she might be a bit out of his league. I mean can you see…," Sheppard rambled on shaking his head.

Frustrated with his confidant, Ronon interrupted before they got too far off track, "Focus," he hissed.

"Okay, why was he asking you if you were interested?"

"I guess he thought I liked her too," he replied, stating the obvious.

"I don't see what the problem is. Once you told him no did he leave you alone."

Sheppard waited for his answer while finishing a bottle of water and reaching for another. When he realized Ronon had gone silent he jerked his head around to look at him head on, "Chewie … did you tell him no?" John asked, frowning.

"I said maybe … I wasn't sure exactly what he meant," he grumbled.

"Backup … start at the beginning."

"It was after we got back from M33-985, I was in the gym and Rodney came in and started asking me questions about intentions."

"What exactly did he say?"

"It was McKay and I was tired … I wasn't "exactly" listening," he said using air quotes for emphasis.

"Well, did he just walk up to you and blurt it our?" Sheppard asked, frustrated.

"He was talking about intentions and then something about Jennifer and then he said good when I said no, so I told him to wait … said maybe I did have intentions."

"Well do you?" Sheppard asked, feeling his blood pressure rise.

"I don't know – I wasn't sure what that meant," Ronon grumbled.

"So why didn't you ask him?"

"I did and he said romantic intentions… so I said no."

"Sounds pretty cut and dried to me … seems like he was just checking to see if you were interested in her. Problem solved," John sighed, glad to be done giving out advice.

"Yeah … until he smiled so I told him I had intentions too," he confessed sheepishly.

"Are you kidding me … why would you do that?" Sheppard asked incredulously.

"I don't know … it felt like a challenge and I couldn't just give in," he admitted.

"So how did you settle it … rock-paper-scissors?" John asked sarcastically.

"He said may the best man win and we shook on it – so see, it was a challenge," he hissed.

Sheppard deliberately closed his eyes and hung his head; slowly shaking it back and forth as he mentally analyzed the situation. The only saving grace in the whole deal was that Jennifer had no knowledge of his teammates desires. As innocent as it may have started out it had the potential to turn nasty… he needed to nip this in the bud before it turned into a nightmare. As easy as it would be to advise his friend to just walk away he also wanted to see him happy. Ronon had shared some personal information with him over the years he'd been on Atlantis. He knew his friend had been engaged and lost his fiancé when Sateda fell to the Wraith. The loss was devastating to the soldier and pretty much set his life on a completely different course. According to his calculations, the man had spent as much time on the run and fighting the Wraith as he had in the peaceful years of his youth. Maybe it was time for a little bit of happiness and the more he thought about it the more he thought Dr. Keller might just be what was missing from his life.

"Do you have intentions?" John asked again, lifting his head and gaining eye contact.

"I'm not sure what that means on your world," he said.

"Look… if Rodney has 'intentions' then he's probably attracted to the Doc and wants to ask her out - get to know her better. His actions are honorable and he's not about to run off and do something permanent any time soon. It usually doesn't work that fast on Earth," he explained, knowing he wasn't very good at romantic advice. "What do intentions mean to you?"

"Similar but without all the Earth customs … declaring intentions was the first step in the bonding process on Sateda.

"You have time buddy … figure out if you're ready to take that step," John encouraged, rising to take his leave. "But if it's about getting caught up in the challenge then maybe you should just walk away," he suggested, clapping him on the shoulder before heading toward the exit.

Ronon sat and thought about his conversation with his best friend. He needed to get things straight in his head … figure out what he wanted. The more he thought about it the more he liked the idea of starting a romantic relationship. I'd been a long time since he'd let anyone get close. He liked Jennifer and could see himself bonding with someone like her. In his head he started to make a list of attributes he found attractive in the young doctor:

She was beautiful, smart and didn't take any crap from the men on base.

She wasn't afraid of him and could hold her own on missions.

She liked movies, loved chocolate, always seemed to have a supply of popcorn.

She saw the good in everyone she met and more importantly she called Atlantis home.

When he tried to think about some negative qualities he came up empty. "I need some air," he mumbled to himself. Grabbing his gym bag he headed to his room before taking a walk out to the pier.

* * *

Jennifer closed her door after Rodney said goodnight. It'd been a strange evening… the scientist had shown up in the infirmary earlier in the day and asked her to dinner. It wasn't that she hadn't enjoyed herself it's just that he'd never asked her out before. In fact, it was nice being asked out, made her feel girlie … it'd been a while since someone of the opposite sex had paid her much attention.

Pulling off her dress pants and sweater she slipped into a fuzzy sweatshirt and yoga pants to relax in her chair and read a bit before bedtime. Taking a few sips of her chamomile tea she opened to her bookmark and began to read only to be pulled away by her door chime. Opening her door she was surprised to see Ronon standing in the hallway.

"Ronon … hi," she stammered, more than a little surprised.

"Hey, did I wake you?" he asked.

"No … I was just reading. Would you like to come in?"

Really looking at her for the first time was a real eye-opener for him. Her hair was down around her shoulders framing her face in gentle waves … he'd never seen her this way before and it turned his head to mush. "No … I was going for a walk," he stammered. He should have put more thought into this part of his plan. He was used to tackling problems head on – swiftly. Now that he was standing in front of her he felt like a fish out of water.

"It's a nice night for a walk," she said, smiling. She wondered if it was a full moon tonight … it was probably the oddest night she'd had in quite a while, first Rodney and now Ronon.

"Thought I'd see if you wanted to walk out to the pier with me?" he finally asked.

"Um, sure … that sounds lovely. Let me put some shoes on."

The two wound their way through the corridors quickly making their way to the outer doors. As he opened the door he reached for her hand pulling her outside into the night air. Taking a few deep breaths he settled himself and relaxed… the outdoors always seemed more peaceful than the cramped quarters of the City.

Jennifer was surprised when Ronon took her hand but was even more surprised when he continued to hold it as they started walking out to the end of the east pier. She'd always liked the misplaced soldier, had even had a crush on him at one time when they were trapped together during a quarantine but when nothing came of it she figured he wasn't interested.

They sat for a while enjoying the night air and easy conversation mixed in with long moments of comfortable silence. Soon enough the temperature started to drop and Jennifer's comfy sweatshirt began to feel a lot thinner than it did sitting in her chair.

Ronon could feel her start to shiver but wasn't ready to go inside yet. Reaching over he put his arm around her and drew her close fitting her under his shoulder. She felt right … they felt right together.

Jennifer snuggled in closer to ward off the cold as well as fulfill a daydream she'd had for quite some time… to be held in the arms of the man she'd admired since that time of confinement together. She knew it was prompted from the cold weather … but a girl could dream.

They spent a while longer enjoying the stars and talking about childhood experiences before the cold eventually drove them toward the warmth of the City. Helping her to her feet, Ronon took her hand and continued to hold it as they began their trek back to her room.

"This was nice," Jennifer said, smiling in the darkness.

"Would you want to do it again?"

"Yes, anytime," she eagerly replied. "This has been a weird day for me," she chuckled, softly.

"How?" he asked, hoping she wasn't thinking of him as being weird.

"Out of the blue Rodney asked me to dinner and then you came by and asked me to take a walk. That's very unusual in my world."

"He has intentions," Ronon clarified.

"What?" she declared surprised and a bit disturbed. "What do you mean?"

"He has romantic intentions," he explained.

Arriving at her quarters, Jennifer opened her door and drew Ronon inside to continue the conversation in private. "How do you know that?"

"He told me … wanted to know If I had intentions."

"This is so embarrassing," she said, blushing. "I wish I didn't know that," she mumbled.

"Why … you're a beautiful woman, seems natural he'd be interested?" Ronon said, wondering at her reaction.

"It's just … I don't know – I've never thought of him in that way."

"So, you're not interested in him?"

"No, not in that way. I enjoy our friendship but not romantically," she affirmed, vehemently.

Ronon watched her blush and fidget over the thought of being pursued by someone of the opposite sex and at that moment his decision was made.

"I owe you something," he said, moving the conversation away from Rodney.

"Huh … what?" she asked flustered.

Pulling himself away from the wall he'd been leaning against, he overwhelmed her personal space before continuing, "I think I owe you a kiss," he whispered before taking that last step and pulling her closer. Dipping his head he gave her a passionate kiss like she'd never experienced leaving her breathless and wanting more.

Pulling back he judged her reaction to be positive and knew at that moment she was the one to fill that void in his life. He may not have realized he was missing something but now he knew he couldn't live without her.

Playing with the leather binding strip on his shirt she gathered her courage before asking, "So … do you have intentions?"

A slow smile started from the corners of his mouth before blooming into a full blown grin. "Yes little one, I have Satedan intentions," he declared before sealing the deal with another kiss.

The End


End file.
